After Friday’s practice, Craig Berube discussed the Maple Leafs’ struggling power play, their lack of man-advantage opportunities, William Nylander’s hot start, the McMann-Robertson duo, and Joseph Woll joining the Marlies for a conditioning stint.

The team leads the league in five-on-five goals but is near the bottom of the league in power-play percentage. What do you make of the contrast?

Berube: Well, I am not making excuses. We get one power play a game, maybe two. That is a little bit of a problem, for sure. In saying that, we have to do a better job of executing on our power play with the chances we have. For me, we haven’t executed well enough. That is really what it boils down to. There have been plays that we’ve had in tight, or good chances, and we’ve missed the net, or we just didn’t execute well enough. That is the biggest thing for me.

Do you want to see more shot volume on the power play?

Berube: No, I think we have been shooting the puck. If I look at the stats, we are one of the top teams in shooting the puck on the power play. That’s good; it’s not a problem, and we have to keep shooting it and attacking, but we need to execute better on our grade-A chances.

What do you have to do to earn more power plays?

Berube: I don’t know. You’d have to ask the league. In the last eight games, our zone time in the offensive zone has been really good and has gone up. To me, you work in the offensive zone and make people take penalties. We just have to stay with it. We can’t focus on it or worry about it. We just have to keep doing the work we’re doing. Eventually, it will come around.

Historically, the team has taken off in November with hot streaks. It has already won three games in a row this month. Is there anything you can pinpoint as to why this happens?

Berube: I can only go by the last year and a bit that I’ve been here. What I am seeing now, going back a little bit even to later October, is us playing to our identity and understanding that this is how we will have succeed. When we do it, we are pretty good, and we give ourselves a chance to win.

William Nylander is off to his hottest start, production-wise, since he entered the league. What has allowed him to increase his production?

Berube: He has always scored a lot of goals, but this year, he is making more plays with the puck and getting assists. As I said before, he is an underrated passer and a good playmaker. He has always scored a lot of goals.

What have you liked about Brandon Carlo’s game lately?

Berube: His assertiveness, more than anything. If you watch his net-front battles and physicality, it has been moving in the right direction. As I’ve said before, pucks find him. He eats a lot of pucks and breaks a lot of pucks up with his stick. He has been an effective player going back to last year for us.

What are you seeing from Matthew Knies lately? Is there anything different about his play?

Berube: What you saw last game with the second and third-effort stuff… To me, when he is doing that, he is a very effective player. He is a second and third-effort guy, with the body and skill that goes with it. It is all about that quickness and second/third effort. When he is on it, he is a hard guy to handle it.

Bobby McMann and Nick Robertson always seem to find their way back to each other’s line. What do you like about them together?

Berube: They played a lot together last year, obviously. More than anything, they have good chemistry with their speed. They are both quick players who are fast and get on top of things. They get into the corners and work well together. Eventually, the puck gets to the net, and somebody puts it home, like last game.

I liked that speed with [Tavares] down the wings. They get on top of things, and JT does his thing with what he does.

More than anything, they’ve played together for quite some time now. They have good chemistry together, and they enjoy playing together. It’s direct from both of them; it’s straight lines, direct, get it in deep, and go to work. They expose people with their speed at times.

Where do you feel like Joseph Woll’s game stands after the work he’s done in practice?

Berube: He is fine. He really hasn’t had that much, but he is getting work, which is good. He is going to go down and play with the Marlies here, so that will be really good for him to get into the action. That is where I think he’ll start making some real strides, by getting in games.

What was the idea behind Cayden Primeau skating on a separate pad in practice?

Berube: It’s just because we want Woll to get that time with Stolarz. We need those guys. [Cayden] went over and worked with the goalie coach on some other things. We had three goalies in practice, and I wanted Wollsy to have the whole net.

Practice Lines – Nov. 7

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